Enjoy our last page of the summer-thanks for reading! We will be back in December! - Mikala & Sofia
Margarita Perez-Pulido introduced Reluctant Farmer Magazine to the Mobile Farmers’ Market, a project that aims to provide access to organic vegetables to two communities in Albuquerque, the International District and the South Valley. The Mobile Farmers’ Market van helps connect local farmers to low-income communities and offers affordable fresh food options. Local organizations subsidize the cost of the organic produce to make it more affordable. Double Up Food Bucks, SNAP/EBT, WIC and Senior Farmers’ Market Checks are all accepted. The Mobile Farmers’ Market has recently become a full-fledged program complete with collaborations with the Street Food Institute food truck and Kid’s Cook! program after a successful year-long trial period. Street Food Institute prepares sample meals using vegetables from the Mobile Farmers’ Market to give recipe ideas to community members. Kid’s Cook! provides lessons on-site to introduce children to cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Reluctant Farmer: Can you tell us a bit about the project?
Margarita Perez-Pulido: The Mobile Farmers' Market was founded by Presbyterian hospital, in collaboration with twelve other organizations. It was developed with the idea of bringing organic vegetables to communities that are discouraged from shopping at health food stores because it is too expensive. A van brings the vegetables to the First Choice Community Healthcare clinic and five other locations.
RF: What is your role?
MPP: I work at First Community Healthcare in the South Valley. Workers at each location disseminate information and advertise Mobile Farmers' Market to the community. This involves flyers, talking to people, and door-to-door marketing. The goal was to go to 5000 houses. In the clinic, we talk to clients to let them know about the program. We see many clients with diabetes. Mobile Market and nutrition classes help address these issues.
RF: Where do the vegetables come from?
MPP: In order to bring these vegetables, Agricultura Network is collaborating with 10 farms in the South Valley which all produce different products. The goal was to bring organic vegetables to the people and to strengthen the production of the local farmers.
RF: What has the community response been so far?
MPP: There are a lot of people in the community who say it is about time that someone is doing something like this. They are very happy. And for the farmers, now they have a new goal and are helping the community. Mobile Market is inviting the community to eat better and educating about the nutritional aspect of the food.
For schedule and location information:
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Food sovereignty: Many food justice advocates talk about the importance of food access, but urban gardens can be an important piece of food sovereignty, a sustainable food production and distribution system that is created by and for a community. This is a crucial way of combatting food deserts, which deprive low-income people, particularly people of color, of healthy, chemical-free, culturally specific food. Urban Tree Connection works to support neighborhoods in West Philly in their efforts to create community-driven, self-sustaining gardens that increase local access to fruits and vegetables.
Land sovereignty: Urban gardens are about more than just food—they’re about land. Transforming vacant lots into beautiful, productive green spaces can help people feel more ownership over their neighborhoods, but that’s not always enough; many urban gardens are squatting on underutilized land that is actually in private hands. Part of UTC’s work is getting these gardens out of squatter territory and into community land trusts, where they will be protected for generations to come.
Community building: Community is the heart of urban gardening. A garden has the power to bring people in a neighborhood together around a common goal: taking control of their city and their food. Gardens can be safe, accessible green spaces for kids to play, neighbors to meet and hang out, and entire communities to come together for barbecues and block parties. UTC also works to create leadership opportunities by employing community members and helping local block captains manage their gardens, making these spaces truly created by as well as for the community.
Greening: It’s obvious that creating more urban green spaces is a good thing, but the environmental benefits of urban gardening go far beyond that. Many of UTC’s gardens are on former parking lots and industrial sites, so adding fresh soil and lots of plants is vital for decontaminating the ground. Replacing concrete with green space also absorbs rainwater and manages erosion, which are major parts of mediating the effects of climate change. And, of course, a hyper-local food system reduces the carbon footprint of food production, while increasing composting within the city reduces waste.
CONTRIBUTING PAGE & ILLUSTRATION by ELLIE VAMOS
Brandi Phlieger, owner of Java Joe’s coffee shop, spoke with us about her Being Present Body Care line. Brandi has been inventing and creating new body care products for the past 9 years. The name Being Present, Brandi explains, reminds customers to be mindful in their daily lives. Brandi makes each product by hand with positive intentions directed towards her customers. For example, Being Present’s frequently-requested pain creme has become an integral part of healing for many customers and Brandi herself.
Brandi spoke of her spiritual drive to provide comfort and healing to her community through Being Present Body Care. “It’s more than a job,” she says. The inclusive environment of Java Joe’s, free from political or religious affiliations, is mirrored in her body care line.
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When Brandi was first testing products with help from family and friends, she realized that the use of animal products excluded her vegan friends. Being Present Body Care products are also made with natural ingredients, and contain little to no preservatives. Because of this, Brandi encourages customers to use her products with their shelf-life in mind; “they work better on your body than on your shelf.” Keeping with her sustainable mission, Brandi encourages customers to reuse and recycle the product bottles. She speaks of a dream of having the space for her customers to refill empty bottles in-house.
Today, Being Present Body Care offers everything from basics like shampoo, conditioner, and body lotion, to treats like bath bombs, lip scrubs, and cleansing masks. We’re looking forward to the release of Being Present’s all natural bug-repellent, which Brandi mentions is in the works. Being Present Body Care products can be found at Java Joe’s, The Octopus and The Fox, and
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The benefits of composting are numerous. By letting organic material decompose into compost, space is saved in landfills. Far-less methane is produced when food scraps are correctly broken down into compost rather than buried and compressed in landfills. Compost acts as fertilizer which enriches soil for growing healthy plants. The idea of a full cycle from growing food to turning scraps into fuel for growing more food is appealing.
However, city dwellers without space in their yards for a compost heap or funds for a state-of-the-art indoor composting machine are stuck between believing wholeheartedly in the benefits of composting and feeling unable to do anything about it.
Some solutions include:
Try buying a with a charcoal filter. Keeping the bin next to your sink will make gathering food scraps for compost as easy as throwing them away.
Alternatively, gathering compost in a container which can withstand cold temperatures (such as a large tupperware) and storing it in the freezer will keep the kitchen smelling fresh.
If you go to a grower’s market that has compost-specific bins (such as the Albuquerque Downtown Grower’s Market) you can drop off the week’s food scraps before stocking up on more fresh produce.
Space provided, food scraps can be gathered for longer periods of time. Larger loads of food scraps or organic material such as leaves and grass are accepted by the local company Soilutions which processes organic material on an industrial scale and sells a variety of compost and soil mixes.
COMPOSTING WITHOUT A YARD
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NOT SO SIMPLE
What does organic mean? Foods that are produced without chemical pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones.
Ideally, a systemic change would allow both consumers and farmers to be safe from the use of dangerous pesticides in the production of food. However, growing food without chemicals increases production costs, creating an income disparity between those who can afford to buy organic produce and those who cannot.
The list to left, and others like it, have been distributed to highlight foods deemed safe to eat whether organic or not, due largely to outer shells and peels. Lists like the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” allow people to prioritize their organic shopping, making a chemical-free lifestyle accessible to a larger audience.
Although these lists allow more people to reap the health benefits of chemical-free food consumption where it counts, this individualistic consumer mindset unfortunately overlooks the harmful pesticide exposure of the farmers and food producers and the effect of these chemicals on the land and native animal species. Additionally, complacency in consumers who only buy organic when it will impact their own health impedes systemic change.
The complexities around the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” lists speak to the larger inequalities affecting the purchasing of fresh, simple food and the health of the people who grow it. We have only briefly outlined the facets of the issue. We look forward to speaking with Margarita Perez-Pulido about a program called Mobile Market that provides access to organic produce to lower-income communities in Albuquerque. Check back next week for the article.
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